ARTICLE XVII
ADJUNCT BARGAINING UNIT MEMBERS
A.
Initial Hiring of Adjunct Faculty
Both parties to this Agreement recognize the importance of assuring the quality of
teaching that occurs in Rider University regardless of whether that teaching is done by a
full-time member of the faculty or an adjunct member of the faculty. In order to assemble
a pool of qualified adjunct faculty the following procedures shall be followed in hiring
and evaluating adjunct faculty:
1.
Appointment of Adjunct Faculty
It shall be the responsibility of the members of the relevant department or
program to review the credentials of candidates for adjunct faculty positions and
to make recommendations to the appropriate dean for appointment. The dean
consistent with the other elements of this Agreement shall offer an adjunct
contract to the individual(s) recommended by the faculty of the department or
program.
2.
Teaching Evaluation of Adjunct Faculty
It shall be the responsibility of the full-time faculty of the department or program
within which an adjunct bargaining unit member is teaching to evaluate, at least
once a year, the teaching effectiveness of each non-preferred, non-priority adjunct
bargaining unit member (as defined, respectively, in Sections B and C, below), for
the purpose of the professional development of the adjunct bargaining unit
member and future recommendations to the dean for adjunct appointment. A copy
of the required evaluation will be provided to the bargaining unit member by the
chairperson or director. Further, if the full-time faculty of a department or
program have concerns regarding the teaching effectiveness of any faculty
member, including preferred or priority adjuncts, they may evaluate the teaching
effectiveness of that faculty member. Such evaluations shall focus solely on the
teaching effectiveness of the faculty member and primary consideration in
evaluating effective teaching shall be given to evaluation by members of the
department or program of the faculty member who have observed the faculty
member’s classroom teaching.
3.
Department and Program Assignments for Adjuncts
Each adjunct bargaining unit member will be assigned to a department or program
for purposes of evaluation, seniority, and promotion. Adjunct bargaining unit
members who teach in more than one department or program shall be assigned for
these purposes to the department or program where they have taught the greatest
number of credit hours over the last three (3) years.
B.
Adjunct Seniority Status
1.
Appointment to courses from the pool of qualified adjunct bargaining unit
members shall occur in the following order, following assignment of workloads to
full-time faculty pursuant to Article XXVII:
2.
Adjunct bargaining unit members with Priority Appointment Status, as defined in
Section C below, shall be the first adjunct bargaining unit members to be offered
courses in the department or program in which they hold seniority up to their
maximum allowed workload. If there are insufficient available courses or sections
or courses to provide qualified priority Appointment Status appointees with as
many courses/sections as they have requested and if there is more than one
Priority Appointment Status appointee requesting available courses, the courses
shall be awarded on the basis of seniority. Seniority for purposes of this section
shall be computed on the basis of the number of semesters of service. The details
of the application of seniority to be applied shall be agreed to by the AAUP and
the University.
3.
Adjunct bargaining unit members who have taught a minimum of thirty-six (36)
credit hours (or the equivalent applied hours) within six (6) consecutive years
(including summers) for the University shall be given "preferred" status for
courses for which they are qualified in departments and programs in which they
hold seniority. Adjunct bargaining unit members in this seniority pool will then be
offered courses up to their allowable workload. If there are insufficient available
courses or sections to provide qualified preferred adjunct faculty in the seniority
pool with as many courses/sections they have requested, the available courses
shall be awarded on the basis of seniority. Seniority for the purpose of this section
shall be computed on the basis of the number of semesters of service excluding
summer sessions. The details of the application of seniority to be applied shall be
agreed to by the AAUP and the University.
4.
Each June, the Provost’s office shall generate from its adjunct/overload data base
a list of those adjunct bargaining unit members who meet the foregoing criteria.
This list will be forwarded electronically to all academic deans’ offices and to the
AAUP office. The academic coordinator or other designated person in each
academic dean’s office shall then update that office’s seniority list of preferred
adjuncts accordingly and provide copies to the department chairpersons and
program directors, who will confirm the status of all such adjuncts teaching in
their respective departments or programs. Chairpersons shall return the corrected
lists to their dean’s office, which after reviewing it, shall send copies to the
Provost’s Office, the AAUP Office, and all adjuncts listed therein.
5.
Opportunity to Teach
No adjunct bargaining unit member shall be denied the opportunity to teach a
course for the purpose of denying him/her the opportunity to subsequently
achieve preferred appointment status or to apply for Priority Appointment status.
C.
Adjunct Priority Appointment Status
1.
Lawrenceville Adjuncts Holding Priority Appointment Status Adjunct members
of the bargaining unit appointed to teaching departments or programs on the
Lawrenceville campus who have previously been granted Priority Appointment
status shall continue to maintain such status except for those reasons specified in
C 6 below.
2.
Lawrenceville Adjuncts Granted Priority Appointment Status Adjunct members
of the bargaining unit appointed to departments or programs on the Lawrenceville
campus who attain an average of twelve (12) hours of teaching per year for the
previous three (3) years and who apply for and are approved for Priority
Appointment status according to the procedures of Section G shall be granted
Priority Appointment status and shall continue to maintain such status except for
those reasons specified in C 6 below.
3.
Westminster Adjuncts Holding Priority Appointment Status Adjunct members of
the bargaining unit appointed to departments or programs on the Westminster
campus, who have previously been granted Priority Appointment status shall
continue to maintain such status except for reasons specified in C 6 below.
4.
Westminster Adjuncts Granted Priority Appointment Status Adjunct members of
the bargaining unit appointed to departments on the Westminster campus, who
subsequent to September 1, 1994, attain an average of twelve (12) classroom
hours (or the equivalent applied hours) during the previous three (3) years and
who apply for and are approved for Priority Appointment status according to the
procedures of Section G shall be accorded Priority Appointment status and shall
continue to maintain such status except for those reasons specified in C 6 below.
5.
Break in Service
An adjunct bargaining unit member holding Priority Appointment status may
request of the dean a break in service of up to one calendar year, which if
approved by the dean will not result in loss of Priority Appointment status, nor
will that break period be counted towards the calculation of the three-year period
for maintenance of this status. One such break may be requested in any five (5)
year period. The University shall not be obligated to provide benefits during such
a break in service.
6.
Loss of Preferred or Priority Adjunct Status
A Preferred or Priority Adjunct will lose that status under the following
circumstances:
D.
a.
A twenty-four (24) month break in service (not counting a break
authorized according to C 5 above).
b.
A Priority Adjunct bargaining unit member who has taught fewer than
thirty-three (33) contact hours over the previous three (3) years.
c.
A Preferred Adjunct bargaining unit member who has taught fewer than
thirty-six (36) credit hours over the previous six (6) years.
d.
A determination by the University that the Priority or Preferred Adjunct
bargaining unit member is no longer qualified to teach the courses that
they were found to be qualified to teach in the past. Such determination
shall be subject to the grievance and arbitration provisions of this
Agreement and the burden of proof shall be on the University.
Adjunct Library Faculty Holding Priority Appointment Status
Certain adjunct librarians shall be granted priority in appointment for bargaining unit
work for which they are qualified (“Priority Appointment status”.) Such adjunct members
of the library faculty are as follows:
1.
Library Adjuncts Holding Priority Appointment Status
Adjunct members of the bargaining unit, who have been employed as library faculty and
who have previously been granted Priority Appointment status shall continue to maintain
such status if they continue to work, on average, on at least a half-time basis in the most
recent three-year period.
2.
Library Adjuncts Granted Priority Appointment Status
Adjunct members of the bargaining unit, who are employed as library faculty on at least a
half-time basis during the previous three (3) years and who apply for and are approved
for Priority Appointment status according to the procedures of Section E shall be
accorded Priority Appointment status. They shall continue to maintain such status if they
continue to work, on average, on at least a half-time basis in the most recent three-year
period.
E.
Teaching Workload
Adjunct members of the bargaining unit appointed to departments or programs on the
Lawrenceville campus who held Priority Appointment status as of September 1, 1994,
and who continue to hold Priority Appointment status and adjunct members of the
bargaining unit appointed to departments or programs on the Princeton campus who held
Priority Appointment or Preferred Appointment status as of September 1, 2008, and who
continue to hold Priority or Preferred Appointment status, shall continue to be eligible to
teach up to nine (9) classroom contact hours in a single semester but shall not be eligible
to claim full-time status because of such teaching load. All other adjunct members of the
bargaining unit shall teach no more than six (6) classroom contact hours (or its equivalent
in applied contact hours) in a single semester (except that adjunct faculty teaching
Musicianship may teach up to 7.5 classroom hours and adjunct faculty of WCA may
teach up to fifteen (15) applied contact hours; adjuncts teaching Music Theory on the
Lawrenceville campus may teach up to 7.0 classroom contact hours) in a single semester.
F.
Notice of Workload
The University shall provide adjunct bargaining unit members with as much advance
notice as practicable of their next term's workload assignments so as to allow them
reasonable time to prepare course materials and to order books and supplies at the same
time as the full-time faculty. The University may grant annual contracts to adjunct
bargaining unit members who have held Priority Appointment status for a minimum of
three (3) years. Such annual contracts are contingent upon sufficient enrollment for the
assigned courses. If a course assigned to an adjunct bargaining unit member holding
Priority Appointment status is cancelled because of insufficient enrollment, unstaffed
courses or courses previously assigned to adjunct bargaining unit members without
Priority Appointment status shall be reassigned to the faculty member whose course was
cancelled. Courses assigned to an adjunct bargaining unit member holding Priority
Appointment status may be reassigned to a full-time member of the faculty whose course
assignment, through cancellation of a course or courses, fails to meet the required
minimum load. However, unstaffed sections, overload sections, and sections previously
assigned to an adjunct member of the bargaining unit without Priority Appointment status
will be reassigned to such full-time member of the faculty before a section or sections are
reassigned from an adjunct member of the faculty holding Priority Appointment status.
Sections assigned to an adjunct member of the faculty holding Priority Appointment
status shall not be reassigned to a full-time member of the faculty to accommodate a
request from the full- time member of the faculty for an overload assignment, if such
request was not made during the normal workload process.
G.
Application Procedures for Priority Appointment Status
To apply for Priority Appointment status, an adjunct bargaining unit member who meets
the eligibility requirement set forth in this Article shall notify his/her departmental
chairperson/program director by October 15. The full-time members of the department or
program shall have the professional responsibility to evaluate the teaching effectiveness
or support of the teaching-learning process of such individual and to submit to the dean
by November 15 a recommendation concerning Priority Appointment status for such
individual. This recommendation shall be based solely on the evaluation of the adjunct
member’s teaching effectiveness or support of the teaching-learning process. The primary
consideration in evaluating effective teaching shall be given to evaluation by members of
the department or program of the candidate who have observed the candidate’s classroom
teaching. The evaluation shall follow the same procedures for departmental participation,
candidate's review of departments and chairperson's reports, and dean's review as set
forth for non-tenured faculty members in Article X, Sections A (1-3) and B. The dean
shall send to the candidate a written evaluation by December 15, specifying whether the
candidate has been granted Priority Appointment status. A candidate who is denied
Priority Appointment status by the dean may reapply for such status in any succeeding
year, provided the candidate remains eligible.
H.
Extension of Priority Appointment Status
1.
Procedures for Applying for the Extension of Priority Appointment Status to a
New Department
If an adjunct member of the bargaining unit holding Priority Appointment status
wishes to teach in a department in which he/she does not hold such status, he/she
shall make a written application to the new department, declaring that he/she
holds Priority Appointment status and specifying which course or courses he/she
requests to teach in the department. The full-time members of the department
shall evaluate the applicant’s credentials for the specified course(s) and, if a
majority of such full-time members deem the applicant academically qualified,
the department shall assign him/her up to two (2) available sections of a requested
course on a trial basis. Applicants who are deemed unqualified shall not be
offered courses in the department. After an applicant who has been deemed
qualified has taught two (2) sections in the department, the full-time members of
the department shall provide the applicant with a written evaluation or evaluations
of his/her teaching with their reasons for approving or denying the extension of
Priority Appointment status to the department. To receive departmental approval
for the extension of Priority Appointment status, the applicant must receive the
approval of a majority of full-time department members. If the department is in a
college other than the college in which the applicant originally held Priority
Appointment status, the department shall forward any approval of extension of
Priority Appointment status to the dean, who will render a decision in the manner
provided for the dean in Section G. Applicants who are denied extension of
Priority Appointment status by the department or, when relevant, by the dean
shall not be offered further courses in that department.
2.
Procedures for Applying for Extension of Priority Appointment Status to a New
Discipline in a Multi-Disciplined Department
If a part-time member of the bargaining unit holding Priority Appointment status wishes
to teach in a discipline within a multi-disciplined department other than a discipline in
which he/she holds Priority Appointment status, he/she must apply for extension of
Priority Appointment status to the second discipline, following the procedures in Section
1.
I.
Promotion of Adjunct Bargaining Unit Member
Adjunct members of the bargaining unit shall be eligible, after the completion of at least
four (4) semesters, to apply for promotion from Adjunct Instructor to Adjunct Assistant
Professor, at least six (6) semesters after appointment or promotion to Adjunct Assistant
Professor for promotion to Adjunct Associate Professor, and at least six (6) semesters
after appointment or promotion to Adjunct Associate Professor for promotion to Adjunct
Professor. All of the above requirements refer to teaching at the University during the
Fall and Spring semesters. Adjunct faculty who hold the rank of instructor shall
automatically be promoted to the rank of Adjunct Assistant professor if they hold the
appropriate terminal degree.
Candidates shall apply for promotion by contacting the appropriate department, program,
or division and making arrangements for evaluations by the department chairperson or
director and the members of the department, program, or division. Such evaluations shall
be forwarded to the appropriate college/school Promotion and Tenure Committee and the
application shall be processed by such with all of the procedures provided for in Article
VIII. For processing of applications for promotion of adjunct bargaining unit members
who are not assigned to a college, three (3) faculty bargaining unit members selected by
the members of the program, as defined by the UAPC, the director, the Provost, the
Associate Provost, and the Chairperson of the Promotion and Tenure Committee shall
serve as a Promotion Committee. Standards for promotion shall be as follows:
1.
Effective Teaching or Support of the Teaching-Learning Process
Candidates must show evidence of effective teaching or, for library faculty,
effective support of the teaching-learning process, as required under Article VIII
for full-time members of the bargaining unit.
2.
Scholarly and/or Appropriate Professional Activity
For promotion from Adjunct Instructor to Adjunct Assistant Professor, candidates
must show evidence of scholarly and/or appropriate professional activity. For
promotion to a higher rank, evidence of some scholarly activity of the nature
described in Article VIII for full-time members of the bargaining unit is required.
3.
J.
Contributions to Department, College, or University Candidates must show
evidence of contributions to the department, college, or University.
Faculty Rank and Tenure
Appointment of adjunct faculty on a continuing basis under this Article does not entitle
such adjunct faculty members to full-time tenure track appointments. Nor shall
possession of an adjunct faculty rank entitle an individual to the corresponding rank if
such individual becomes a full-time member of the faculty. Instead, such individual shall
be required to undergo the appointment procedure under Article VII and may be assigned
such rank as may be appropriate.
K.
Salary Limits
In the event that a full-time member of the bargaining unit leaves the ranks of full-time
faculty, and is subsequently hired as an adjunct, his/her salary will be no greater than that
which he/she would have earned if he/she had remained on the full-time faculty, reduced
to the proportion of the full-time load he/she is teaching.
L.
Working Conditions
1.
All adjunct faculty shall have access to appropriate space in order to meet
privately with students in their classes.
2.
Adjunct faculty shall have access to all course-support services (secretarial,
copying, mail, etc.) on the same basis as full-time faculty.
3.
All adjunct faculty shall be provided with learning management system,
voicemail, and email accounts. Priority adjunct faculty members shall have such
accounts year-round.
4.
All adjunct faculty shall be provided with a mailbox which they may access
during their normal teaching schedule.
5.
All adjunct faculty will, on request, be provided with lockable storage space
sufficient to store teaching materials and hats, coats, pocketbooks, etc.